I don’t know why El Jefe put me on the Burger Beat, but here we are. Maybe it’s because his doctor told him to lay off of red meat and this is punishment.

White Castle is the latest burger chain attempting to use AI in a harsh environment. I first reported on AI’s use at the drive-thru in the Spring. Wendy’s FreshAI is taking orders at its Columbus, Ohio restaurant.

An Easier Intro for AI

Now, as then, the drive-thru window is a harsh environment for AI. Drive-thru cashiers have to parse an order together through a number of distractions. Street noise, yelling kids, and crappy audio pickups are a few elements making the drive-thru experience an awful one for humans and AI alike.

Honestly, fast food chains would be better off bringing AI-powered ordering technology inside. McDonald’s TV-sized touchscreens see frequent use whenever I’m in a store. Adding an order taking AI to these screens may be a better use of the technology.

White Castle is working with SoundHound to bring the technology to 100 locations across the country. SoundHound is a speech recognition company with applications in music and other industries.

White Castle will offer consumers a polite and cordial AI agent who will take orders at the drive-thru menu. The drive-thru menu won’t change in any special way. From the outside looking in, the menu will look the same, probably with the same crappy speaker and microphone.

If the AI gets confused or isn’t able to take the order properly, White Castle is letting customers opt for a human to complete their order. That’s a good thing because speech recognition technology still hasn’t figured out nuances across accents and tones.

Already Live

White Castle and SoundHound have been mum on which locations have an AI working for them. Reports indicate many midwestern White Castles have used the system since June.

One thing’s for sure. Whether or not you’re ordering from an AI or a human, your burger will be more tasty than a MrBeast Burger.

-MJ